" FIRE KITTY...Empty your AK over THERE>>>>>

State to Fall River:

 Show us the money.

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By Michael Holtzman
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Dec 07, 2009 @ 10:25 PM
Last update Dec 07, 2009 @ 10:26 PM
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Fall River — Behind on the grant auditing report schedule agreed to last year, city finance officials said they’re complying with a state Department of Revenue directive to supply a financial balance sheet to set the tax rate and issue bills before Dec. 31.
The records would enable the state to also certify free cash, which is the difference between budgeted revenues and expenses, to determine what the balance was at the end of fiscal 2009.
It would allow the state to determine potential deficits and set the tax rate, Treasurer and Director of Financial Services Dan Patten said.

Well, well, well...looks like FireKitty has a target rich enviornment today.To be honest I have very mixed feelings about what I read this morning. I have told anyone willing to listen for the better part of a year, whether on this blog or previously on the comments section of the Fall River Herald News (HN), the worlds least qualified FISHWRAP, that there were major problems with what was going on in the City's finances, that there should never be years worth of unaudited financials, that unlocated differences and out of balance amounts of $1.6 million, revised to $ 1.2 million, indicated potential disaster, and that by this point, there HAS to be a very, very solid idea of what Free Cash amount will be certified by the DOR.

To have this situation exist after two full years under the tryrannical reign of Ol' Hamhocks LaRue is an indictment of him, his finance team, and the long time Auditor of the City, Hague and Sahady. One would think that emphasis in the allocation of approriation to additional qualified manpower in the City Auditor's office, and other financial offices, might have made more sense than the tsunami of spending by Ol' Hamhocks on his own staff. There was no greater need for the City than to have these financial issues solved, NONE. If you think otherwise, you do not know a thing about municipal governance. And I say that now to Mayor Flanagan. If you do not get complete control over this situation NOW, your entire administration will be doomed. You will be able to accomplish nothing. You will be the proverbial cat chasing his own tail. Ol' Hamhocks paid lipservice to solving the problem from day 1 in office. You see what the result has been. And he's leaving YOU with a HUGE tax increase to be felt by the taxpayers in ONE quarter! That will also be precisely when the  largest amount in both value and numbers, of Motor Vehicle Excise tax bills will go out, as they traditionally do in February...oh yeah, probably March in Fall River, given how incompetent the Finance Department is.

If you have massive grant deficits, that has to be made up out of Free Cash....you loose it before you even get it, because fund deficits are part of the calculation PRIOR to DOR certifying Free Cash- and that's not mentioning possible Enterprise Fund deficits we've seen reported in the last week or so. (I'm not even going to address Mr. Holtzman's reportage on municipal finance...he's a first class ignorant fool...I'm just wondering if he's a moron to boot!).

 I'm going to suggest something here.I venture to guess that the Audit firm knows, or senses heavily, that there have been grave misappropriations within School Grants, and other funds, and does not want to be the one to declare it! Ms. Sahady knows her business. I KNOW she knows her business. I also know that once you've been doing things as long as she has, you can pretty much figure out, by turnover of key personnel, relative skill levels of  staff in operations under review and the direction , timing and velocity of fund transactions whether there are problems in a general area, let alone cracking open the specific transactions within a grant, or by review of the staff's overseeing the allocation of funds out of those grants. In short, I bet she knows it's more than just a disorganized mess....I bet she knows where the fingerprints are, and who they belong to!
Problem is, this City allows what amounts to political incest to occur. I have never seen a place where a person or firm holding a long term major contract or functioning working agreement with a municipality allows that same person, or principal of that firm, also hold other appointive office (Mary Sahady was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Fall River Housing Authority bu Ol' Hamhocks)...an official  appointment made by the person who directly decides who gets the long term contract in question. The boundries between those regulated and the regulators become obliterated, and there is a natural tendency, during a time of financial stress, to be willing, possibly, to say less to make more, to cover up poor practice, possibly even illegalities, by simply looking the other way. In any event, this situation must be stoppped immediately. IMMEDIATELY!

The DOR has the right, if not the responsibility to all other Cities and Towns, to regulate future disbursements of state funds to Fall River. Why send more money to this City if it cannot prove that the funds are being spent for the purposes the City says it's spending them for, or which is required by law, or if the funds cannot be accounted for, or all three reasons? Having worked at the very office within DOR that is reviewing the City's performance I can tell you there is political pressure being placed on the Governor's Office and the DOR to lay off what is going on, and that the staffs are growing more resentful because they know there are problems requiring a fix before any further funds of any type are allocated to Fall River. Ol' Hamhocks bringing  in the State Auditor, an old friend, to whitewash the City's financial reporting is BULLSHIT. Joe "punchdrunk" DeNucci would make sure whatever the Ol' Hamhocks wanted said in the audit would be said. Listen carefully, THE STATE AUDITOR DOES NOT COMPLETE MUNICIPAL AUDITS...THEY NEVER DO MUNICIPAL AUDITS...THEY ARE NOT SET UP TO DO MUNICIPAL AUDITS...they may do a fraud audit, but only when they KNOW what to look for and only in an election year. PERIOD.
 There are no doubt mega problems with the School Department's administration of it's grant funds. It has gone on for the entire time of Frau MMB's despotic rule of that Department, and certainlty, well before her appointment by the swine Ol' Hamhocks.I don't ever want to again hear Mr. Cadime's crud about being a financial expert. If he was, he would not be able to sit by and allow things to be so awful year after year after year within School Grant Accounts..  He's a municipal financial expert the way Ken Fiola is a Business Development expert. With such experts, is it any wonder Fall River is heading straight for bankruptcy, scandal and state takeover?

For the new Mayor to maintain credibility with those who put him in office, precisely because they are tired of hearing the same old poisonous crap about their City, the same old lack of performance by highly paid "professionals", the same old questionable political involvement in daily operations, and the same old poor financial administration complete with understandable rumors of misdeeds, he must act, and he must act quickly and decisively. Keeping on the organizer of the coverup, lil' Chappy Chapdelaine, cannot be a good thing. Keeping on Hague and Sahady is unacceptable. Firing, not just Finace Depratment heads, but line staffs as well, must be strongly considered. A complete management review of the Finance Offices HAS to be completed, documented and put into place. If you fired all the department heads in Finance, the performance in the offices in question could NOT be worse. Literally.

 For the titular head of the Finance Department to be able to say with a straight face 6 months after the close of the fiscal year that he does not have a clue what Free Cash might be certified is unprofessional and unacceptable. He is either lying, or is completely incompetent. We know he lacks the background or ability to budget in any modern fashion. Line item budgets are so 1940's. It's time to replace him as well. Given that he was Treasurer in New Bedford when Hague and Sahady were that City's Audit Firm leads me to believe that this dance was done once before. There are no cooincidences in municipal finance folks. Hey, it happens, it's not a mark of shame, it's just time for the Treasurer/Finance Director to move on for everyone's sake. If he's any good, and has any kind of reputation for excellence, he'll land on his feet in no time.

Probably well before Fall River does!